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“Just upgraded to a 3Gs 32GB Apple iPhone from a 2G...”

written by Technophobe on 29/01/2010

Just upgraded to a 3Gs 32GB Apple iPhone from a 2G 16GB iPhone primarily because I ran out of memory. I'd also experienced problems with the network (O2) and thought a switch to 3G might fix it. Stupid me really! I am in Bucks on the Berkshire border near to Slough and I seem to get 3G about 10% of the time so it's not much use to me at home. We'll see how it works out on the move but I suspect it is usage not coverage that's the problem. Too many kids downloading cr@p. The processor is definitely faster than the old 16 GB 2G iPhone I had and I'd swear the graphics were slightly better too. The iPhone is definitely a VERY nice piece of kit but whether the new phone justifies an expenditure of nearly £500 (if you pay full retail) is doubtful. I was disappointed to find little extra in the way of features or applications. Even the stock ring tones are the same boring old bing bongs. The compass is a pretty useless gimic and the google locator does not seem to be as accurate as the old machine although I don't see how that could be possible unless they changed the GPS hardware.



I was also VERY disappointed to see they have not improved the deletion feature in emails. I receive about 60 emails a day many of which are blocked or junked by my laptop but the iPhone lets them all through and deleting them takes too long so the end result is I don't use the email feature as much I expected. It would be easy to include some filtering software or at the very least allow you to mark all as read or delete in bulk rather than have to highlight every mail to be deleted.



The touch screen is great although it started to play up on my 2 year old, well used 2G, the new one is perfect. The virtual keyboard although small is superb and the predictive text is very impressive. I don't use the internet feature that much either as the speed is still too slow and the screen too small. I did look at a notebook but they seem to only offer a smaller physical size advantage, everything else they do less well than my laptop. The iPhone replaces my phone and my iPod but definitely nowhere near my computer. Maybe I should look at the iPad but then that's getting mixed reviews. Great toys and tech jewellery but that's not what I need I'm looking for kit that works!



Bottom line: GREAT bit of kit, expensive but not enough improvements over 2G to make the cost worthwhile. Would recommend if you need to change your phone but don't bother upgrading from 2G iPhone to 3G unless maybe you are in a city centre. Even then you have cloud which is good when you can connect. Not that impressed with O2 either but then not sure Vodaphone is any better.



I am experimenting with tethering vs a dongle too but again the 3G access is a limitation. I think on balance tethering is going to be better but the monthly packages are a con. If I could buy download capacity that was not limited to a time period that would be much better. Some months I use hardly any mobile download/upload space but others might hit 5GB! Why can't I buy 10 or 20GB and use it when I like? Or even carry over unused usage to the next month!